Now that he's retired, psychotherapist Hal Brown of Middleboro finds that sharing his ideas is his own personal therapy.

What I learned over Thanksgiving

About this blog

By Hal Brown

Hal Brown of Middleboro earned his bachelor's and master's degrees in social work at Michigan State University and went on to be a mental health center director and psychotherapist. He has always had a passion for writing, and has been on the
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Hal Brown of Middleboro earned his bachelor's and master's degrees in social work at Michigan State University and went on to be a mental health center director and psychotherapist. He has always had a passion for writing, and has been on the internet since the days you had to learn HTML code to publish a website.

I had an interesting and stimulating Thanksgiving, full of love and warmth, visiting old friends who live in the Hudson Valley of New York. There were sentimental monents, too, since the couple were close friends of my wife and I, and her absense was acutely felt.

Of course, there was the food, and a genuine Pilgrim Thanksgiving meal, which included venison (left, my friend's "meat pole") and wild turkey courtesy of my hunter host.

I did learn a few things over Thanksgiving. They won't end up being scripted into a sitcom, but here they are anyway.

I learned a humbling lesson. Never try to debate the merits or lack thereof of rap music with a graduate student who actually knows something about the cultural significance of hip-hop and rap.

I learned that having Thanksgiving with a host who hunts, and also is a great chef, can be a rewarding experience. Our menu included a store bought turkey, but also a wild turkey and venison.

I found out that I really wasn’t entertained by the TV show “The Meat Eater,” which features a hunter stalking, killing, cooking and eating meat. After three episodes, by aclamation we decided the episode on hunting wild pig would be our last.

Many families avoid talking about politics over Thanksgiving, because there’s often one or more person who wants to provoke an unwinnable argument. Generally such topics are to be avoided. I enjoyed a spirited debate among fellow liberals as to whether Fox News and MSNBC were equally biased. We all agreed that we admired Rachel Maddow; but I was the only one who argued that I thought Al Sharpton wasn’t quite as much of a show-boater as he used to be.

After getting a fix of football, we all learned or re-discovered how funny “Malcolm in the Middle” was.

[Lois appears holding a charred red dress.]

Lois: Fire? Fire? Fire?

Malcolm: Mom, what?

Lois: This is the most stupid, irresponsible, dangerous thing you have ever done! Is this what you want? Will we have to identify your charred little bodies through their dental records? I want a straight answer!Who did this?

Reese: Malcolm did it!

Malcolm: Reese did it!

Reese: I didn't do it!

Malcolm: I didn't do it!

Dewey: We're going to the dentist?

I learned that when you are driving out of state and have EZ Pass, you should call three days in advance to add money to your account. I got the dreaded yellow light in New York State, saying “call EZ Pass.” What does it mean? Should I try to Google their phone number before moving out of the EZ Pass lane?

I took a chance and drove through, and called when I got home. I'd reached my limit, and it while it is automatically increased to $25 when you hit $10, it takes three days for other states to get the message.

I also learned that you can’t increase your upper limit online. You have to call and talk to who we used to simply call "a person." Now we have to refer to them as a "real live person." (The upper limit is $50.)

I learned that dialing 511, and entering the route number you are traveling on, will give you a recording of traffic conditions in both directions on that highway. I also learned that I was lucky to be traveling east on the Mass Pike, because just about the entire route leaving Boston was almost bumper to bumper.

Not to get too sentimental, I learned that when you don’t have family, you are more than lucky when old friends welcome you into their's.

If you have an idea for another topic for me to write about, or a question or a correction, for me, feel free to email me here. I will not share your email address with anyone.